Takayuki Yagami
Takayuki Yagami is a character in the Yakuza series, appearing as a major character, the main protagonist and primary playable character of Judgment. Yagami was originally a well-regarded defense attorney of Genda Law Office, but lost both his job and reputation when a client of his, Shinpei Okubo, was accused of murdering his girlfriend following Yagami's successful defense of him in 2015. After losing his job and credibility, Yagami became a private investigator alongside his long-time friend Masaharu Kaito and founded Yagami Detective Agency in Kamurocho, Tokyo. History Background Early life Takayuki Yagami was born circa 1983. His father was a defense attorney and both of his parents were frequently busy with their jobs, causing a rift between them and the young Yagami during their last years. In spite of that, when he was younger, Yagami was taught martial arts by his father. His reality came crashing down circa 1998, when his parents were found butchered. Yagami's father took a dead-to-rights homicide case and got an acquittal for his client, but one of the victim's relatives was furious at the result and stabbed the Yagamis to death with a kitchen knife before hanging himself at the murder scene. Around the time of the murder, Yagami was over at a friend's house. When he returned home, he found his parents' blood-soaked bodies at the entrance. Yagami blamed himself for their deaths, believing that he could have stopped the murderer had he stayed home. For a while Yagami stayed with relatives before leaving his remaining family for Kamurocho, Tokyo. There, he lied about his age and managed to obtain a job at Tender, a bar owned by Jo Masuda. Masuda became a close associate of Yagami in his later years, offering him leads and chances for jobs. Sometime after his arrival at Kamurocho, Yagami encountered a young yakuza called Masaharu Kaito. According to Kaito, Yagami picked up a fight with him, prompting the former to break the teenager's nose during their first encounter. Their friendship slowly began as Kaito grew respect towards Yagami's sheer will and determination. During one of their fights, Yagami was approached by Mitsugu Matsugane, Patriarch of the Tojo Clan's Matsugane Family and Kaito's superior. Matsugane chided the young Yagami for his rash behavior and stubborn attitude, but encouraged him to seek a better future than a fight-searching punk on the streets, before making an offer to teach Yagami. Eventually, Yagami gave in and was taken under Matsugane's wing, who became a second father figure to him and taught him a variety of subjects. Unlike Matsugane's actual men, Yagami was noted to not have the yakuza in his blood, which Kaito speculated to be the reason why Matsugane took a liking to him. Yagami was not particularly liked by Matsugane's men; chief among them was Kyohei Hamura, the subsidiary's Captain and major money collector. Early career as a lawyer Yagami wished to pursue a career as a defense attorney similar to his father. To this end, he was mentored by Ryuzu Genda, the head of Genda Law Office and a close friend of Matsugane. Matsugane helped funding Yagami's law degree, and later in studying for the bar exams. Yagami successfully passed the bars and became an employee of Genda's law firm. As a lawyer, Yagami's record was mixed. Until 2015, he was only involved in civil cases, and according to him, lost more cases than he won. During his time with Genda, he became friends with fellow attorney Saori Shirosaki, but eventually grew a rivalry with Masamichi Shintani, who originally started as Yagami's mentor for the role. Yagami also eventually came to see Genda as another father figure, while Genda saw Yagami as a surrogate son. One night, Yagami went to a bar with Saori. Together alongside them joined Mafuyu Fujii, a public prosecutor and a childhood friend of Saori. Yagami noticed Mafuyu's depressed demeanor during that night, which unbeknownst to him was caused due to the marriage of her crush. He cheered her up, and she eventually began to develop feelings for him. Defending Shinpei Okubo Yagami's rise to prominence among the law community and eventual downfall happened when he took the murder case of Koichi Waku, a senile sixty-six years old patient in the Advanced Drug Development Center. Yagami took the case to defend the murder suspect Shinpei Okubo, a worker at the Center. Yagami and Shintani visited the ADDC for their case, meeting Director Ryusuke Kido in the process but not progressing with evidence. On Yagami's insistence, they visited the Center again, as he wished to see the crime scene. Kido had them tagged with a nurse, Emi Terasawa, to visit Waku's room. Exploring Waku's room, Yagami concluded that he was murdered at the crime scene before being moved out. As Yagami and Shintani went through the case, Yagami noted that while Okubo admitted to burying Waku's corpse in the mountains far away from the ADDC, he was not directly linked to the murder itself. Their next investigation scene was the ADDC's parking lot. On their way down there, Yagami was told by Shintani about the risks of criminal cases. Though evidence pointed out towards Okubo being the culprit, Yagami refused to shoot down his plead for innocence. While this act of determination earned him Shintani's scorn, Yagami also gained Emi's respect and trust. After being questioned about his chances of winning Okubo's trial, Yagami asked Emi to contact him for the trial if she had valuable information. Afterwards, Yagami and Shintani visited Okubo. While Shintani bluntly rebuffed their chances to win the case, Yagami stood by Okubo's word and reassured the suspect that he will fight for his innocence. Back at Genda Law Office, Yagami was teased about his relationship with Mafuyu before he and Genda set together on Yagami's evidence. Yagami presented his key evidence - the inability to confirm Waku's presence or status from outside his room - to Genda, building a narrative that the latter approved as plausible. Before they could continue, Shintani was assaulted by a masked person outside the office. Yagami chased down the culprit, finding out it was Emi herself. At Tender, Emi told Yagami she wanted to speak to him about the identity of the witness of Waku's murder, ADDC researcher Yoji Shono. She confessed to Yagami about the uncertainty of Shono's testimony, and that she considered Okubo to be innocent. On the day of the trial, Yagami and Emi cooperated together after listening to Shono's testimony. Using the narrow window of the room's door as his evidence, Yagami pointed out holes in the researcher's testimony, furthered by Emi's experience with Waku and other patients while checking on them. Yagami soon added Okubo's involvement in the matter, noting time inconsistencies that hint at another person as the culprit. To this end, Yagami asked for cross-examination with Shono. After leading Shono to admit that he cannot confirm he saw Waku in his room, Yagami tore down prosecutor Keigo Izumida's narrative before requesting him to drop the charges against Okubo. Izumida attempted to challenge Yagami's argument through usage of Shono's title and position, but the young lawyer pointed out the flaws in his logic to faithfully accept Shono's testimony. In return, Izumida brought up Okubo's criminal record and dispute with the victim before the murder. To the surprise of Yagami, Emi spoke up about Okubo's character and kindness. Emi ultimately revealed herself to be Okubo's girlfriend, much to Yagami's shock at the latter for concealing this information. The trial resumed shortly after Emi left the court; Yagami believed that her outburst helped swaying the outcome of the trial. In the conclusion of the trial, Okubo was found innocent. The publicity of the trial and its rare outcome against all odds helped establishing Yagami's reputation as a lawyer. He soon became the most requested attorney in Genda's company, receiving new cases on a daily basis. However, less than a month after the trial, Okubo and Emi's residence was put on fire and the latter was found stabbed to death. Okubo was accused as the murderer, and Yagami's reputation as a lawyer took a massive hit due to previously proving Okubo's innocence. Freelance journalist Ko Hattori, who was present at Okubo's trial, brought Yagami's down reputation further by publishing a scathing article on the matter. Yagami Detective Agency With his reputation in shambles, and against Genda's wishes, Yagami retired from his job as a lawyer and left Genda Law Office. At some point prior to 2017, Yagami resurfaced as a private investigator. He bought an apartment in Building One on Nakamichi Street, which he turned into his office and base of operations. In late 2017, a robbery occurred in the Matsugane Family office, and Kaito was to suffer the consequences as he was in charge of overlooking the office at the time. Yagami, who with Matsugane at the time, arrived at the scene witnessing Hamura forcing Kaito to perform a yubitsume. Through his wits and verbal skills, Yagami caused Hamura and Matsugane to officially expel Kaito from the yakuza. Thanks to this, Yagami helped Kaito avoiding the loss of his left pinkie finger, reasoning that as Kaito is no longer a yakuza, yakuza responsibilities and punishments did not apply him. This incident soured Yagami's relationship with Hamura, who from that moment kept a watchful eye on Yagami and frequently antagonized him. Yagami, meanwhile, recruited Kaito as his partner in private investigations, founding the Yagami Detective Agency in the process. Events of Judgment Hamura's trial Investigating the Matsugane robbery Search at the ADDC Pursue of Hamura Learning the truth Further investigations Last stand against The Mole Aftermath Character Personality Physical appearance Gameplay Behind the scenes Trivia Gallery References Category:Characters in Judgment Category:Playable characters